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This story was submitted to the Peoples War site by Jas from Global Information Centre Eastbourne and has been added to the website on behalf of Mr Brook with his permission and he fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions

In 1939 I was 14 years old and had just left school. I was living at 1 Nelson Terrace, Polegate, East Sussex; my father was an agricultural worker and was mainly driving tractors.

He always had to have an assistant looking out for the German planes as they did intend to machine-gun them. I worked for a Mr. Miller in Polegate, Newsagent and Off Licence. When we were not delivering the beer we "dug for Victory" in the large back garden.

While I was delivering the papers, I noticed that Mr. Petch, who owned a garage which was opposite the Polegate windmill in the dip alongside a small river.

I asked him if he had a vacancy and he said "yes". They were putting in lathes and the first job that I had was filling up a small glass bowl with oil. There was a wick in the bottom that kept the shaft lubricated. The other job I had was drilling and then tapping a thread, later I worked on the capsten lathe.

I then asked what I was making and I was shown a plan headed "Lord Nuffield Auto Parts" and that was all. I was one of four men working there and the rest was made up about 30 women and that is where I met my future wife. While on night duty we used to go out and have our "lunch".

One night we heard a funny noise and looked up into the sky and saw flames which we thought was a plane in trouble. Later on we learned that it was a buzz bomb.

Before I was called up, one evening at 17 North Avenue, we heard a loud noise and thought a lorry passing by but in fact in turned out to be a bomb which fell two roads away.

I was deferred for one year and was called up in November 1944. My medical was at Warrior Square, Hastings. I wanted to go into the Air Force. I passed my medical and had an interview and the man said, "We want air gunners". I said that my future father-in-law, Mr. Cyril Durnford, was an electrical engineer on a Bomber Station at Wick, Scotland. He had a job of hosing out the rear gunner department and because of that I didn't want to take the job as air gunner! So they said it would have to be the army.

I had another medical at Queens Road, Brighton, whereupon I found myself in the Army. When the war ended in 1945 I was on embarkation leave. My pay book stated "Far East". I went on embarkation leave whereupon I married my wife, Olive. Everything was done a shoestring.

Clothing coupons were asked for from friends and when I came off embarkation leave and went to Sunningdale, a holding camp prior to going overseas, to our surprise we landed in Belgium whereupon I joined the Military Government in Germany.

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